On June 24, the San Benito County Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo will host the first annual Robert Postigo Special Needs Rodeo. Participants will be running through a course that will test their skills in a series of events such as stick horse racing, goat tail untying, pony petting, and bull riding using a hay bale outfitted with steer horns, along with several other horse-related activities.
Nine-year-old Damien Lopez has registered for the rodeo, and according to his mother Sofia Lopez, he can’t wait to see the horses and participate in the event.
“I think something like this is very important,” she said, “This is something that is made especially for him rather than the events for typical kids. Here, if he can’t do something, he can get more turns and keep trying. He might not be able to keep up in the regular rodeo, but here he will be able to succeed.”
Sponsored by the Robert Postigo Family Trust Fund through the Community Foundation, in cooperation with Cooper’s Calling, the event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon and is open to those with special needs aged 21 or younger.
Following Postigo’s death last October, the fund was created with a vision of helping special needs children and families.
“Robert and I had thought about doing something like this for years,” his widow Susan Postigo said. “The rodeo did allow us to have a special needs division one year, but it was very limited participation, and we wanted to try again. But you need a lot of volunteers, and you need someone that’s gonna take charge.”
With her grandson, Marcos, already attending activities at Cooper’s Calling, Susan thought the Tres Pinos therapy horse organization was a natural fit for the idea of a special rodeo.
“We had already been planning something like this,” said Cooper’s Calling co-owner Bailey Rianda. “Then the Postigo family came forward and said they’d be interested in funding it. As we planned it, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have it as part of the Rodeo?’ That would make it even more fun.”
She approached the San Benito County Rodeo Board, and they embraced the idea, saying, according to Rianda, that they thought it would bring a greater sense of community to the rodeo.
“They have really stood by us,” she said, “and they have also been generous in providing rodeo tickets to each participant and a guardian. They let us piggyback off of their great event to make this happen for over a dozen families, and they are true heroes here.”
During the rodeo, every participant will be teamed up with a high school student who is competing in the county rodeo as a member of the California High School Rodeo Association. After the special rodeo, participants are welcome to attend a special lunch and spend the rest of the day enjoying the events.
“I think this is important,” Susan Postigo said, “because it gets special needs children involved in something right here in our community which otherwise has very limited resources. And this is going to be a true cowboy experience for them.”
Tickets for the Robert Postigo Special Needs Rodeo are available for purchase online only.
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.
You must be logged in to post a comment.